EAST COUNTY  Firefighters continue Monday to battle a brush fire that started Sunday afternoon near the Golden Acorn Casino and has burned 820 acres, forcing the evacuation of about 150 East County homes south of Interstate 8.

Fire crews fought erratic winds in their attempts to corral the stubborn fire which broke out at 2 p.m. south of Old Highway 80 near Crestwood Road. High temperatures also made it difficult for firefighters to contain the fire, which continued early Monday to burn out of control.

Sheriff’s deputies ordered the evacuations of residents along Church Road, Old Highway 80 and areas south of the Campo Indian Reservation casino.

Cal Fire crews in North County had more success with a 25-acre brush fire along Woods Valley Road in Valley Center that started about 4:15 p.m. Sunday. Engines and aircraft contained that blaze by 7 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Department.

With the Old fire, more than 200 firefighters, 30 engine crews, four air tankers and three helicopters attacked the blaze. Flames burned along Old Highway 80 and jumped parts of Church Road, authorities said.

Cal Fire spokesman Daryll Piña said the Golden Acorn Casino was serving as a command center for fire crews. Evacuees were told to go to the casino for shelter.

By evening, only one evacuee was at the casino, dazed over the loss of her mobile home and her mother's on the same property across from the casino on Old Highway 80.

Mary Kanel said she and her parents, her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren were preparing for a Father's Day barbeque and were setting up a new swingset for the children. About 2 p.m., they noticed smoke in the air.

Kanel's father, Larry Crowell, drove down the road and came across deputies who said the family should leave immediately.

"We didn't get to grab nothing," Kanel said, wiping tears from her eyes. "We put three dogs and two cats in the cars. That was it. We had to go."

She said her family headed to her daughter's El Cajon home, but she watched from the casino parking lot as the family's two homes go up in flames.

Cal Fire spokesman Tom Piranio said he knew one structure and a trailer that were destroyed by the fire.

Also at the casino late Sunday night were about a half-dozen dedicated slot machine players.

Anita Seavello of El Cajon and Miriam Santana of Imperial Beach said they had arrived about noon by casino bus but missed its departure about five hours later.

"We were told to leave because it was really smokey, but then we couldn't leave," Seavello said. "The smoke was so thick we couldn't find the right bus. The power went off and the games went off for a short time."

Santana said she was so intent on playing slots, she at first. "Then we saw flames across the street. It was frightening," she said.

Gwenda and Keven Bryant, of Campo, said they fled their Campo home with just important documents in their car. They made their way to the casino and about 1 a.m. Monday decided to stop playing slots and go back home.

"We won some," Gwenda Bryant said. "We had our pick of the slots."

Power through the area was out because of burned utility lines, officials said. The casino generators put most of the games back in play, along with an adjacent convenience store.

One convenience store employee, Coralie Royce, 28, of Boulevard, said business was slow because of the fire.

"We've had fires out here before, but besides the 2003 fire, this has got to be the worst," Royce said.

Deputies went door to door to evacuate homes and used reverse 911 calls to alert residents. The Live Oaks Springs area was under an advisory order for residents to leave. About 150 homes were threatened, and about 40 people were evacuated.

Interstate 8 remained open as of 10 p.m., but Old Highway 80 was closed at Crestwood and Sierra Del Sol. Eastbound state Route 94 was closed at Church Road.

Cal Fire officials said shifting winds made the fire tricky to battle, with winds out of the east shifting to a southwest flow late in the afternoon.

“We had a wind change, and with the wind change there’s always potential for growth,” Piranio said.

Wind gusts of 21 mph were recorded in the area Sunday. Campo hit 97 degrees, and the humidity level dropped as low as 7 percent.

National Weather Service forecaster Brandt Maxwell said it should be a few degrees cooler Monday, but gusts could reach 50 mph along I-8 Monday night. No fire-weather watch was forecast, because the humidity levels were expected to rise, Maxwell said.